End of competitive skating season

The end of Sydney's second year skating in Switzerland is nearing and Sunday, Feb 17th we headed to Saignelégier for the Coupe Romande.  It is for all skaters in the French speaking part of Switzerland and according to Sydney the most important competition of the season.  She did not compete in this last year as she was not ready.  Each skater skates twice.  The first time the perform two spins and two jumps and the score from those elements determines when they skate their free program or with music.  The highest score skates last so is is important to do well on the spins and jumps.  Last year Sydney's spins and jumps were not strong enough, but that is another store this year.

Sydney and her coach Catia getting ready for her  spins and jumps.

Got her mid jump.

After the spins and jumps, Sydney was in 4th place and would skate in the last group.  While she skated strong, she seemed more nervous and was a little behind on her music.  She placed 5th in her free skate and finished 2nd overall.  We were so proud of her for working so hard to get to where she is today.

Coupe Romande podium - 2nd for Sydney and 3rd for her friend Elena

All the competitors from her group at Coupe Romande.

Sydney with her friends Elena and Lisa.

Below is her video, both computer and mobile version, from this competition.  Unfortunately we had issues with the camcorder so ended up having to use our iPhone, which didn't do too badly.

Computer version

Mobile version

Afterwards we headed straight home and loaded the car up for a weekend of skiing, which I will tell you all about in the next post.  Sydney did have one more competition, but unfortunately took a hard fall on the ice and had to take a week off to let her knee heal.  The Coupe Romande would be her last competition for this skating season.  It was now time to focus on the skating show and her test to move to the next level.

Winter fun and Art on Ice

On Sunday, February 3rd we took a family ski trip to Les Paccots, which is a short 30 minute drive.  Aaron was very nervous and did not want to go.  He sees the mountains and thinks we are going to the top.  Randy took Aaron on a harness to keep him safe and they figured out how to take a button lift together.  The girls and I took a couple runs before grabbing some lunch.  It was a beautiful day and gave us time to practice before heading to Nendaz for ski week at the end of February.

Aaron getting ready for another run with daddy.

Quick stop for a picture.

Randy and I decided to take each of the kids to an event.  Sydney's choice was Art on Ice with Stéphane Lambiel.  There was a piece of chocolate on each chair, which Sydney was very excited about.  She has a bit of a sweet tooth!  It was a fantastic show including a live performance by Leona Lewis.  Stéphane has started spending time at the rink giving lessons to the skaters that compete, which is a highlight for Sydney now that she knows who he is.

Sydney and her chocolate

Hailey had Brownies on Sunday, February 10 and the were going to Les Diablerets for a family day of sledging, or sledding back in the US.  Aaron and I stayed down below with Ava while the dad's took the older girls up the chair lift for a 7km (~5mile) sledge run.  I tried taking the younger two down, but was clearly an amateur when it comes to sledging as I used my heals as a brake and we ended up with snow filled faces.  Aaron was not a fan as it was very cold and wet.  I couldn't get him back up so we would walk up part of the way and they would go down by themselves.

Ava and Aaron ready for another sledging run.

After the dads and girls made it down, Hailey and Grace asked if they could go down the smaller one by themselves.  I agreed, but quickly became nervous when they were at the bottom and showed no signs of slowing down.  They barely missed taking out a couple of people from a group that was talking at the bottom.  They flew past the bottom without showing any signs of slowing down.  They ducked, fortunately, when going under the pole that pulls tubes around in a circle.  Needless to say that was their last run and we headed home.

Hailey and Grace with the famous pole.

Randy also has a work outing that week where they had meetings and then went dogsledding in the afternoon.  After some instruction, Randy was able to drive the sled himself and found it more difficult than it looked.  We may have to try it out next winter with the kids.

Randy trying out dogsledding.

As you can tell I am a little behind on the blog and need to spend some time getting it caught up as there is much to share!